Highlighting the importance of the practical application of academic knowledge for advances in innovation, the first conference of Energy Production Innovation Center (EPIC). During the event, EPIC researchers were able to learn about expectations regarding the center, created in February this year, in addition to discussing work plans and preliminary research results. EPIC is the result of a partnership between Unicamp, where it is headquartered, the São Paulo State Research Support Foundation (Fapesp) and Equinor, a Norwegian energy company.
The first table at the conference held in the auditorium of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering was made up of the unit's professor and director of EPIC, Antonio Carlos Bannwart; Luiz Nunes, from Fapesp; Ruben Schulkes, from Equinor; Alfredo Renault, from the National Petroleum Agency, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and the rector of Unicamp, Marcelo Knobel, who highlighted EPIC as an important project for the University in its commitment to science, technology and innovation.
Gains for all
EPIC was founded based on a project by Mechanical Engineering professors at Unicamp, who won a call from Fapesp's Engineering Research Centers (CPE) program. For Mechanical Engineering professor Antonio Bannwart and businessman Ruben Schulkes, establishing the partnership brings benefits for everyone. In relation to the University, in general, Antonio points out that the resources invested serve to multiply creation and innovation processes and acquire machinery that helps in this regard.
For Equinor, as Ruben points out, it is an opportunity to improve methods and seek solutions to technical issues, such as oil recovery. As for the challenges, he believes that the main thing is to expand the application of academic knowledge in companies. “We want to interact closely with the university, we are not a company that just puts money in and receives research.”
Another benefit cited by both is the possibility of increasing student employability. “When they acquire training with a scholarship, which came from Fapesp or the company, whether as an undergraduate, master's or doctorate, they will already work with a much higher qualification. The chance of improving the employability of graduates is very good”, points out Antonio.
For Ruben, meetings with university teams are opportunities in which the company observes students and their potential. “We look at people and think 'this is a great student,' with a superior profile, and we can employ him.”
Furthermore, with the partnership come exchange opportunities, which contribute to the development of researchers, with the exchange of knowledge. In Equinor's view, they also help to form one of the profiles desired by the company: professionals who understand both Brazilian and Norwegian culture.
The ANP representative, Alfredo Renault, highlighted that the mandatory investment of companies in the energy sector this year is estimated at R$2 billion. The revenue arises from a contract clause for the most productive or highly profitable companies, which must invest 1% of gross revenue in research and development. For him, this is an important policy that can boost innovation, which has as one of its challenges the issue of operational safety, impacting on lower environmental risks. “We need to expand innovation, make Brazilian universities look more closely at the innovation process without us falling into the discourse that basic science is not relevant, as we have full capacity to balance the country's needs. This project is a demonstration that this path is being followed.”
Science and application together
The need for applied research was also highlighted at the opening of the conference. According to the deputy coordinator of Special Programs and Research Collaborations at Fapesp, Luiz Nunes, the history of science shows that, when it is carried out together with people who think about its applications, excellent work is done. He cites as an example the development of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, formulated based on studies by Sadi Carnot during a mission in which he was called to improve the efficiency of thermal machines, at the beginning of the 19th century.
Believing in this potential, Fapesp currently works with 12 centers along the lines of EPIC. “This type of center is based on the vision that, for a partnership activity to work, it is not enough for the company to give money to the university to carry out a project, it needs to participate in the project, monitor the day-to-day activities”.
Luiz assesses that the results are extraordinary, and cites the example of the Shell Research Center for Gas Innovation (RGCI), based at the Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (USP). With less than five years of operation, RGCI has around 300 researchers involved and, this year, it is a finalist for the Technological Innovation award from the National Petroleum Agency (ANP).
